Helicopter names

[twinstar_ca]

is squirrel not ecureil in french?

[Tango and Cash]

Globalranger

The Globalranger name was promoted by Mike Redenbaugh when he was CEO at Bell. Not sure whether who at Bell came up with it, but Red liked it and used it. The name fell out of favor after Red's departure, but I've seen in used in a few recent articles about the 429.

[Helilover]

EH101

As Alouette3 mentioned, I also heard that the EH101 was originally intended to be the EHI01. Along the same lines, I also understand that it was meant to be Marlin (as in the fish) rather than Merlin, but don't know whether that's true......I think Merlin is more inkeeping with it's predecessor, the Sea King.

I like how the US call the AS350 the Astar and the AS355 the Twinstar - they roll of the tongue easily!

[Focha]

AS and EC, animal names.

Is it from the company to call their helicopters animal names? What is the criteria for the names?

I can name some, Squirrel (Ecureiul), Fennec (it's a fox), Puma, the super powerful transformation of the last Super Puma, Cougar, Dauphin, Panther, Tiger, Colibri (now that I think, they should name the EC130 Super Colibri as well as the EC155 the Super Dauphin or Super Panther), Lama, Allouette (it's a bird), Gazelle, etc.

Some I cannot find the name are EC135 and EC145 as well as for the new EC175... Wonder why?

Regards.

EDIT: Ah... I forgot one, Super Frelon.

[jhiles]

Apologies for slight thread drift, but this reminded me of a thought (or more of a theory) I had wandering around RIAT a couple of weeks ago...

'All military helicopters are named after something which could in some way or another kill a person' eg. Lynx (big teeth), Sea King (big trident) etc

Obviously there are a few grey areas, just wondering if there are any placid sounding military helicopter names out there (Eurocopter Fluffy Bunny? AW Cloud?)

Ah well, back to the madhouse for me.....

[Whirlygig]

Scouts are quite cute

Cheers

Whirls

[FH1100 Pilot]

widgeon said:

Nearly every bell product I can think of had a name except the 407 and 429.

Huh? Straining my brain...trying to recall..

47D?
47G?
47J - "Ranger"
47H?

204?
205?
206B - "JetRanger"
206L - "LongRanger"

212?
214 - "Big Lifter"
214ST - "Super Transport"

222?

609?

Am I missing something? We're talking about factory marketing model names, right? Not the names the military gives them? (But while we're on the subject, has anyone EVER heard a Bell 47 referred to as a "Trooper" or a "Sioux?")

[ShyTorque]

has anyone EVER heard a Bell 47 referred to as a "Trooper" or a "Sioux?")

The British Army called their Bell 47 variants "Sioux".

The EC 145 should be called the "Bumble Bee". The UK's Met police ones look like one and sound like one and no-one can work out how they manage to stay airborne.

Scouts are quite cute

Thankfully for scouts everywhere, Whirls is a lady and not a scout leader.

Obviously there are a few grey areas, just wondering if there are any placid sounding military helicopter names out there (Eurocopter Fluffy Bunny? AW Cloud?)

Wessex, Belvedere and Gazelle. Terrible killers, those.

[SASless]

Jhiles,

Try....Souix,Commanche, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Chinook, Osage, Tarhe, Mojave, Apache, and a host of other American Indian Tribal names for US Army helicopters. Reckon in a way they were named for things that would kill you.

[Epiphany]

In pronunciation challenged parts of the globe the Dauphin is called the 'Dolphin' and with the addition of nasal strine it is the 'Dawfeeeen' mate!

[unstable load]

47D?
47G?
47J - "Ranger"
47H?

204?
205?
206B - "JetRanger"
206L - "LongRanger"

212? "Steam Chicken"
214 - "Big Lifter"
214ST - "Super Transport"

222? "Cripple Two"

609?

[widgeon]

FH have to admit I was thinking of the miltary versions ( which I guess are not named by bell ).

I recall the BK117 being called the space ship at some stage

[John R81]

Names could impart more information about the aircraft (like model numbers sometimes do) if they were a little more descriptive, not wistfully hoping to emulate a magnificent jungle animal.

Any suggestions? here's my go:

I would like to propose that the MD 900 be called the "Starbug". It looks just as ugly as that craft from Red Dwarf. Especially from high/rear view

And how about the A109 "Hanger Queen"? Perhaps not the name the factory would choose but I know one or two who would endorse it.

Or the R44 "Starter-ring-breaker" - or is that just Nick's machine?

John

[Tango and Cash]

Widgeon--I seem to recall BK117s being referred to as "Starship", but not sure if that's an official name.

John--I'm sure MD would prefer "Explorer", but "Starbug" seems to fit

[TwoStep]

Thought the AS365 was the 'Dough-fan' rather than 'Dawfeeeen'

DanCopter have suggested the name 'Orca' for the EC155...

[victor papa]

EC130 maybe "tadpole"?
AS350 should have been a "dragon fly" as it looks just like one if you remove the skids.
What would one call the sleek S76?

[TiPwEiGhT]

Bell 212 - Twin Two Twelve?

TiP

[unstable load]

What would one call the sleek S76?

I have heard "The Plastic Pig" and "Sh1t Hawk" used equally often and often with great feeling by the maintenance guys, sometimes prefaced by a string of colourful adjectives.

[Troglodita]

Sleek S76?

What would one call the sleek S76?

I seem to remember from when I did my conversion back in early 80's that it was call the "Sikorsky Spirit" but maybe that is just 28 years of other "Spirits" taking their toll!

Oops - didn't read the thread from the beginning - already said.

The Mitsubishi Pajero also reputedly suffered a similar fate and was renamed the "Montero" in Spanish speaking areas - apparently not too many people were keen to be seen driving their Wkers

Trog

[unstable load]

Apparently the "Spirit" fell foul of copyright issues.